Prisoners' Rights

Issue Information

Incarceration is perhaps the greatest deprivation of liberty that the government can impose on a person. It is the responsibility of the state to ensure that all people housed in prisons are treated humanely, given proper medical treatment, and are supported through rehabilitative and educational programming to ease re-entry into society once the person is released.

What's Happening in Ohio

The ACLU of Ohio is urging the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to end its contract to house immigration prisoners with the private, for-profit prison company Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center (NEOCC) in Youngstown. NEOCC’s ...

The ACLU of Ohio is urging the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to end its contract to house immigration prisoners with the private, for-profit prison company Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center (NEOCC) in Youngstown. NEOCC’s contract to house immigration detainees expires in 2015. The call to drop the contract comes after the release of a new ACLU national report Warehoused and Forgotten: Immigrants Trapped in Our Shadow Private Prison System.

Prisons for profit are a multi-billion-dollar industry that depends on, and profits from, our national addiction to incarceration. Handing control of prisons over to for-profit corporations is a recipe for abuse, neglect, and misconduct. Private prisons create dangerous atmospheres with a severe lack of oversight and do little to encourage rehabilitation.

The ACLU of Ohio will continue to monitor this private prison and its treatment of incarcerated people.

Imagine spending 22 – 24 hours a day in a room the size of a parking space. TVs, radios, and reading materials may or may not be available. Visits from family are strictly limited, if permitted at all. Almost all ...

Imagine spending 22 – 24 hours a day in a room the size of a parking space. TVs, radios, and reading materials may or may not be available. Visits from family are strictly limited, if permitted at all. Almost all human contact occurs while in restraints or through a barrier.

This is life in solitary confinement.

Approximately 80,000 adults and 70,000 children are held in isolation in this country every day.

There is a popular misconception that inmates housed in solitary confinement are the “worst of the worst.” However, the solitary population contains inmates with mental illness; those who complain of abuse by prison officials; and those there “for their own protection,” including LGBT inmates and children housed in adult prisons.

Individuals placed in solitary confinement exhibit a variety of negative psychological reactions including severe and chronic depression; paranoia; delusions; and irrational rage. Self-mutilation is a common practice, and suicide rates are higher.

There are better alternatives to using solitary confinement. At minimum, Ohio’s prisons should adopt the American Bar Association’s Standards for Criminal Justice, Treatment of Prisoners, which, among other things, calls for appropriate procedures for the use of solitary; limits to time spent in solitary; and ending solitary confinement for those with mental illness.

Check out our new fact sheet to learn more about the impact solitary confinement has on those who experience it, their families, and the larger community.

For more than two decades, Siddique Hasan, Jason Robb, George Skatzes, Keith LaMar and Greg Curry have claimed they are innocent of the crimes attributed to them during the 1993 prison uprising at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF).
These five men ...

For more than two decades, Siddique Hasan, Jason Robb, George Skatzes, Keith LaMar and Greg Curry have claimed they are innocent of the crimes attributed to them during the 1993 prison uprising at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF).

These five men accuse the state of coercing false testimony from other SOCF prisoners in order to convict them. They have spent years in solitary confinement, soliciting media attention in an attempt to convince the public—and ultimately the court system—that they do not belong where they are.

In response, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) has created a de-facto ban on face-to-face media contact with these men, arguing that they are too much of a security risk to be allowed to tell their stories in person.

Every day in Ohio, people leave jail without help or hope. Many are uninsured, unemployed, and struggling with substance abuse or mental illness. Without access to the help they need, they often end up right back behind bars.
Other Medicaid expansion ...

Every day in Ohio, people leave jail without help or hope. Many are uninsured, unemployed, and struggling with substance abuse or mental illness. Without access to the help they need, they often end up right back behind bars.

Other Medicaid expansion states are working to enroll their jail, probation, and parole populations, and Ohio should do the same. With better access to the physical and mental healthcare they need, people can get healthy, rebuild their lives, and stay out of jail in the future.

Taxpayers will also benefit, because funding treatment and rehabilitation is much less expensive than subsidizing a never-ending cycle of illness and incarceration.

Helping people enroll in Medicaid when they leave jail will save lives and taxpayer dollars. That’s why the ACLU of Ohio is calling on the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) to require jails to assist those who are leaving with Medicaid enrollment.

The Supreme Court of Ohio has distributed a new “bench card” to all of the state’s judges, giving much needed instructions to avoid the unconstitutional practice of sending people to jail when they owe the court fines and are unable ...

The Supreme Court of Ohio has distributed a new “bench card” to all of the state’s judges, giving much needed instructions to avoid the unconstitutional practice of sending people to jail when they owe the court fines and are unable to pay. The card lists the legal alternatives to jail, such as payment plans or forfeiting a driver’s license, as well as outlining the procedure for determining someone’s ability to pay.

These instructions result from The Outskirts of Hope, an ACLU of Ohio report that documented this unconstitutional practice in seven counties, and illustrated how debtors’ prison ruins lives and costs taxpayers. Courts in Georgia, Washington State, and many other states also use debtors’ prisons to collect fines. Ohio’s new bench card is the first of its kind in the country.

The ACLU of Ohio has asked the Department of Youth Services (DYS) to address these problems by formallydeclaring that juveniles have a right to be free from sexual victimization while inside Ohio’s detention facilities. We’re also asking them to ban the extended seclusion/isolation of juveniles beyond 24 consecutive hours.

This report examines the way in which private prisons often write “bed quotas” or “low crime taxes” into their agreements with state governments. These agreements essentially guarantee profit by requiring the government to pay the company even if their prison cells are empty.

They also incentivize the overcrowding of prisons, which runs counter to the goals of the many states that are just now coming to grips with their mass incarceration crisis, including Ohio.

The report chronicles the failed privatization experiment at Ohio’s North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility in 2000, as well as the current debacle at Lake Erie Correctional Institution, which was sold to Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) in 2011 in a deal that included a 90% bed guarantee clause. To maximize profits, CCA immediately crowded as many inmates as possible into the facility, converting classroom space to make room for more beds and triple bunking inmates so that some were sleeping on the floor. This overcrowding has led to deplorable living conditions and a spike in violence and smuggling activity that has spilled out into the community and put inmates and guards at risk.

The report also uncovers similar problems in Colorado and Arizona and concludes with a recommendation that states reject bed quota agreements, and the many negative consequences that come along with them.

Struggling local governments are turning to booking fees, daily housing fees, costs for clothing and even medical fees in the hopes of turning their jails into revenue generators.
But these pay-to-stay policies cause more problems than they solve....

On April 9, 2013 the ACLU of Ohio released a timeline to state legislators and the public chronicling the first 18-months in the life of Lake Erie Correctional Institution (LaECI), the nation’s first prison sold to a for-profit company.
The ...

On April 9, 2013 the ACLU of Ohio released a timeline to state legislators and the public chronicling the first 18-months in the life of Lake Erie Correctional Institution (LaECI), the nation’s first prison sold to a for-profit company.

The timeline tells the story of a facility that has rapidly become unsafe for inmates, employees, and the surrounding community.

Update: In late April, 2013, the ACLU met with Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor on this issue. In June, the Ohio Supreme Court announced that it will increase efforts to educate local courts on how they ...

Update: In late April, 2013, the ACLU met with Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor on this issue. In June, the Ohio Supreme Court announced that it will increase efforts to educate local courts on how they should handle indigent defendants. These efforts will include a publication for judges, magistrates, and other court officials that lists the appropriate procedures for indigency hearings.

In February 2014, The Supreme Court of Ohio released a new “bench card” giving much needed instructions to Ohio judges to help them avoid debtors’ prison practices in their courtrooms. These instructions came as a result of The Outskirts of Hope, and the ACLU of Ohio’s subsequent meetings with Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor on this issue.

The Constitution prohibits courts from jailing those who can’t afford to pay their fines.

In the 2011-2012 session, legislators passed sentencing reform legislation, a good first step in criminal justice reform. However, Ohio prisons are still at 128% capacity. In a recent article, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Mohr predicted that overcrowding ...

In the 2011-2012 session, legislators passed sentencing reform legislation, a good first step in criminal justice reform. However, Ohio prisons are still at 128% capacity. In a recent article, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Mohr predicted that overcrowding couldrise to 154.1%, if the department were to take a 10% budget cut[1].

The ACLU of Ohio recommends the following policy changes which will reduce the prison population:

Increase the number of earned credit opportunities for eligible inmates.[2]

The ACLU of Ohio has also advocated for expanding earned credit, which refers to the ability of incarcerated people to earn time off their sentence for successfully participating in vocational, educational, and/or rehabilitative programs. Earned credit was virtually eliminated in ...

The ACLU of Ohio has also advocated for expanding earned credit, which refers to the ability of incarcerated people to earn time off their sentence for successfully participating in vocational, educational, and/or rehabilitative programs. Earned credit was virtually eliminated in Ohio during the late 1990s because of a push for ‘truth in sentencing.’

Incarcerating a person simply because he or she cannot afford to pay court costs and fines is prohibited by state law and unconstitutional. The ACLU of Ohio has questioned one Erie County judge about his practice of jailing defendants who cannot or do not pay fines or fees, and has also spoken out against pay-to-stay jail schemes in Summit County, Monroe County, and Franklin County.

In October 2010, the ACLU released “In For A Penny”, a startling new report that profiles five states — including Ohio — that imprison people because they cannot pay fines. The report highlights the negative consequences for budgets and public safety, noting that jailing one person for 30 days costs more than $1500, causes disruptions in employment, and can contribute to recidivism.

In April 2011, the ACLU of Ohio released "Prisons for Profit: A look at prison privatization". The report examines the problems faced by other states when they have privatized their prisons system. While yielding little cost savings, privatization ...

In April 2011, the ACLU of Ohio released “Prisons for Profit: A look at prison privatization“. The report examines the problems faced by other states when they have privatized their prisons system. While yielding little cost savings, privatization poses substantial security and financial risks in communities that have housed them.

The ACLU also expressed concern that private prisons could undermine other needed criminal justice reforms by decreasing educational programming and not prioritizing reducing the inmate population.

In August 2011, the state announced that it would sell and privatize Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Conneaut to Corrections Corporation of America. This marked the first time a state has sold a prison to a private company. In early 2012, CCA sent a letter to 48 states offering to purchase other prisons, while claiming the sale of the Lake Erie facility was ‘seamless.’ The ACLU challenged some of CCA’s assertions about the sale.

Issue Information

Incarceration is perhaps the greatest deprivation of liberty that the government can impose on a person. It is the responsibility of the state to ensure that all people housed in prisons are treated humanely, given proper medical treatment, and are supported through rehabilitative and educational programming to ease re-entry into society once the person is released.

What's Happening Nationally

The ACLU of Ohio is urging the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to end its contract to house immigration prisoners with the private, for-profit prison company Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center (NEOCC) in Youngstown. NEOCC’s ...

The ACLU of Ohio is urging the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to end its contract to house immigration prisoners with the private, for-profit prison company Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center (NEOCC) in Youngstown. NEOCC’s contract to house immigration detainees expires in 2015. The call to drop the contract comes after the release of a new ACLU national report Warehoused and Forgotten: Immigrants Trapped in Our Shadow Private Prison System.

Prisons for profit are a multi-billion-dollar industry that depends on, and profits from, our national addiction to incarceration. Handing control of prisons over to for-profit corporations is a recipe for abuse, neglect, and misconduct. Private prisons create dangerous atmospheres with a severe lack of oversight and do little to encourage rehabilitation.

The ACLU of Ohio will continue to monitor this private prison and its treatment of incarcerated people.

For more than two decades, Siddique Hasan, Jason Robb, George Skatzes, Keith LaMar and Greg Curry have claimed they are innocent of the crimes attributed to them during the 1993 prison uprising at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF).
These five men ...

For more than two decades, Siddique Hasan, Jason Robb, George Skatzes, Keith LaMar and Greg Curry have claimed they are innocent of the crimes attributed to them during the 1993 prison uprising at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF).

These five men accuse the state of coercing false testimony from other SOCF prisoners in order to convict them. They have spent years in solitary confinement, soliciting media attention in an attempt to convince the public—and ultimately the court system—that they do not belong where they are.

In response, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) has created a de-facto ban on face-to-face media contact with these men, arguing that they are too much of a security risk to be allowed to tell their stories in person.

This report examines the way in which private prisons often write “bed quotas” or “low crime taxes” into their agreements with state governments. These agreements essentially guarantee profit by requiring the government to pay the company even if their prison cells are empty.

They also incentivize the overcrowding of prisons, which runs counter to the goals of the many states that are just now coming to grips with their mass incarceration crisis, including Ohio.

The report chronicles the failed privatization experiment at Ohio’s North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility in 2000, as well as the current debacle at Lake Erie Correctional Institution, which was sold to Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) in 2011 in a deal that included a 90% bed guarantee clause. To maximize profits, CCA immediately crowded as many inmates as possible into the facility, converting classroom space to make room for more beds and triple bunking inmates so that some were sleeping on the floor. This overcrowding has led to deplorable living conditions and a spike in violence and smuggling activity that has spilled out into the community and put inmates and guards at risk.

The report also uncovers similar problems in Colorado and Arizona and concludes with a recommendation that states reject bed quota agreements, and the many negative consequences that come along with them.